In the United States, the telephone number “9-1-1” is the designated universal emergency number for requesting emergency assistance. “9-1-1” provides fast and easy access to emergency services via a public safety answering point (“PSAP”). A PSAP is a call center responsible for answering calls to an emergency telephone number and for dispatching emergency services such as police, firefighters, and ambulance services.
PSAPs can identify caller locations for landline calls and mobile calls. For landline calls, the PSAP utilizes the name, address, and telephone number associated with the landline telephone used to make the call. For mobile calls, the PSAP utilizes the address of the base station serving the mobile device that originated the call, telephone number, and estimated location of the mobile device.
The 9-1-1 service is evolving further as communications technology transition to Internet Protocol (“IP”) networks. The next generation of 9-1-1 service will allow people to make emergency calls via voice, text, or video from any IP communications device. The new 9-1-1 infrastructure will support national internetworking of 9-1-1 services, including transfer of emergency calls to other PSAPs.
Currently, IP infrastructure is geographically dispersed. For this reason, a providers' 9-1-1 infrastructure might not be handled locally or as locally as possible. This can lead to call routing problems and 9-1-1 system troubles if the IP 9-1-1 calls are not handled in a more local manner.